The Importance of Forgiveness

“Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one that gets burned”- Buddha

“You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger” – Buddha

Life certainly has a way of teaching us our most valuable lessons, exactly when we need it. Just when we think we are on the “right path” or in a “good place” we get tested…

I had a quick discussion about forgiveness with one of my friends over the weekend, Monday morning came and I had to “walk my talk” and forgive someone at the office… When this happened it made me realize how important this topic is, but also that the Universe wants me to get my thoughts, lessons and message out into the world.

Forgiving someone can be hard, when you have a lot of hurt and anger, it can be difficult to surrender. If we take forgiveness “back to basics” all it takes to forgive someone is your willingness…

Forgiveness is not about the other person, it’s about YOU and your inner peace and inner happiness. If you stay angry at someone you are only damaging yourself, the other person either has no idea HOW angry and hurt you are, or they don’t care.

In my own life I have learned and realized there are actually “2 methods” of forgiveness, it depends on the depth of hurt:

1. Immediate Forgiveness:

This is the type of forgiveness when the hurt is not that deep, and for your own peace of mind and inner happiness, it is just better to forgive and “move on.” It is not worth your time or energy to focus on the situation or person.

2. Deeper Forgiveness:

This type of forgiveness is when there might have been trauma involved. Deep pain and hurt, a lot of anger and loss. This method of forgiveness happens over time, it is not an immediate “action of forgiveness.”

In my own personal experience, every single time I have gone through the same “steps” to get to complete forgiveness. (Again, I would like to remind you that this happens over time)

What did I do?
I managed to find the lesson in what happened, once I found the lesson, I could see the blessing, and once I could see the blessing, I was able to forgive…

Forgiveness allows you to let go and become one with yourself.

Let us know in the comments if the above methods have helped you in anyway.